


Mischief Managed

by gumboy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 07:11:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4910074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gumboy/pseuds/gumboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short story giving bits of history of the Marauder's Map throughout the Harry Potter series.</p><p>An old fic I wrote after Hallows came out.  Mainly because I felt there should be a better epilogue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mischief Managed

Filch looked at the boys sitting in front of him with the nastiest expression he could muster. "You. You boys."

The smallest of the boys let off a small whimper drawing the quick glares of the other three.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Filch?" the gloomy one asked. "As a prefect it's my responsibility to make sure that members of the Gryffindor house-"

"Silence!" Filch yelled as he slapped his hand down on his table making it wobble everywhere. "I know it was you who rigged the Slytherin bathrooms to flush backwards! I'll be cleaning those stalls for days!"

"Do you have any proof of that, Mr. Filch, sir?" the Potter boy asked. "I mean did anyone see us there?"

This caused Sirius to snicker into his fist madly. Peter quickly joined in while Remus managed to keep a straight face.

"James does have a point, sir," Lupin said calmly. "Do you have any proof it was us?"

"I know it was you!" Filch screeched as he slapped his hand again on his desk. "Don't even try to deny it."

James, Sirius and Peter burst into another bout of snickers.

"Oh. You do. Do you?" James said as he slapped his hand on the desk with each sentence. Sirius looked like he was about to burst from laughter while Peter continued to emulate his friends. Somehow Lupin managed to keep his laughter from coming forth. The only sign of his amusement was a slight twitch at the corners of his lips.

Filch glared at all of them. "Do not mock me!"

"We wouldn't dream of that, sir," Lupin said mildly.

"No!" Peter cried out as he slapped the table in imitation of James. "No! We! Wouldn't!"

Peter cackled with laughter as his friends looked at Peter in surprise and laughed with amusement.

Encouraged by his friends, Peter slapped the table twice more, causing a piece of parchment which was stuffed up his sleeve to pop out and land in the middle of Filch's desk.

Suddenly the room was silent as Filch reached over to pick up the fallen paper. "Oh, ho! What be this?"

Peter let a out a squeak as James and Sirius glared at him. Sirius looked like he was about to jump out of his chair until Lupin put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Looks like some paper that Peter was going to use for taking notes. Right, Peter?" Remus asked.

Peter nodded emphatically and blurted out something about exams and quizzes and potions before James hissed at him to shut up.

"Oh? Maybe something to help you cheat?" Filch cackled as he pocketed the parchment and grinned as he watched the once gleeful expressions on the boys turn to disappointment. "I think it might be best if I just keep it here, don't you?"

For once the boys had no response.

Filch sat back in his chair with a smug expression on his face as the boys left the room.

"Way to go, Pettigrew," Sirius grumbled as he gave Peter a shove.

"It was an accident!" Peter squealed as he put his hands up to keep himself from bouncing off the wall. "I didn't mean to do it!"

"Knock it off, Sirius," Lupin said calmly. "It's not his fault."

"You know hard it was to make that map!" Sirius hissed. "How are we going to get around now?"

"Take it easy, Pads," James said with a little smirk as he started to march in a certain direction. "Filch will never figure out how to work the map and we still got the cloak. Besides we all know who ratted us out to Filch. And we certainly don't need a map to find his favorite study spot."

A mischievous grin crossed Sirius's face as they headed out of the castle. "Won't your girlfriend get mad at you for having a little fun with her best friend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," James said with a chuckle. "Yet."

A few moments later and the Marauders were standing around a clump of bushes and looking at a greasy haired boy pouring over a textbook.

"Hello, Snivellus."

***

Filch looked at the two boys sitting in front of him with the nastiest expression he could muster. "You. You boys."

"Us, sir?" the red haired boy asked.

"I think he thinks we did something wrong, Fred," George said with look of astonishment. "Can you believe that?"

"Not me," Fred said shaking his head. "We're model students, we are!"

"You must be mistaking us for our older brother," George explained, mustering his best innocent look. "Have you met Percy?"

"It was you!" Filch said pointing menacingly at Fred before realizing they looked exactly alike. "Or you!" he snarled pointing at George.

"Couldn't have been me!" George said innocently. "I was in the library the entire time."

"Do you have anyone who can vouch for that?" Filch said with a sneer.

"Oi. That'd be me," Fred said raising his hand. "We were trying to figure out whether that transfer student from that French school was more interested in me or my ugly brother here."

"I look just like you!"

"I do? Well then how can Filch say that one of us set off that dungbomb?"

"I know it was one of you!" Filch screeched. "And unless one of you owns up to it, you'll both be polishing the trophy case for a week!"

As Filch continued to rant and rave at the twins, George elbowed his brother and nodded to a drawer on the filing cabinet to his side that was labeled Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.

Fred grinned at his brother.

George grinned back.

"-And if you don't wipe those smug little looks off your faces, I'll have the Bloody Baron disembowel you both!"

"Blimey," Fred swore. "That sounds painful. What do you think George?"

"I think it's all a smoke screen myself," George said with a grin before dropping something on the floor.

"What are you talking about?" Filch asked with a suspicious expression before the room began spilling with smoke.

"Fire!" George yelled as he started waving his arms around.

"Fire!" Fred laughed as he started running around the room.

"OUT!" Filch yelled as he tried to wave the smoke out of his face. "Both of you! Detention! Two weeks!"

"But we didn't start the fire!"

"It was always burning since the world was turning!"

Filch continued to chase the boys around the room until the smoke finally settled. Grabbing both their ears, he dragged him down the hallway to the Headmaster's office.

In between Filch's curses and tugs, the twins were able to share a mischievious smile before being dragged in front of Dumbledore.

***

"Find anything?" he asked, looking up as George entered the room.

"Nothing," he replied. "As far as I could tell, no wizards named Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot or Prongs ever went to this school. What good is a bloody library if it won't tell you these important details?" George muttered as he collapsed on his bed. "Did you get any information from it?"

"No, but watch this," Fred said, tapping his wand on the parchment. "Look, you bloody piece of paper! Tell me what you do or I'll toss you in the fireplace!"

As though an invisible hand was writing upon it, words appeared across the parchment. 

_Mr. Moony would like to remind Fred that he already made that threat and should really be more original._

_Mr. Padfoot thinks that it is rather drafty in here so a warm fire might be nice._

_Mr. Wormtail also thinks some roasted marshmallows would be a nice addition._

_And Mr. Prongs thinks- AIEEE! THE FIRE! IT BURNS!_

"It's sad to think that a piece of paper is smarter than us," George sighed.

"What are you two up to?" came a demanding voice from the door.

Fred and George shoved the parchment underneath a book.

"Me? Nothing. What about you, Fred?"

"I was thinking about devoting my spare time to a charity, myself."

Percy watched his brothers carefully. "So you two had nothing to do with the cream pies suddenly launching themselves at the Slytherin table during dinner."

"Us?"

"Lord no!"

"Honestly, Percy! How could you think of such a thing!"

"Us! Your brothers! Your kin! Your blood!"

"Oh, knock it off," Percy grumped. "I know you two are up to no good."

"Oh absolutely," George agreed.

"I swear it," Fred said with a grin.

Percy gave an exasperated groan and turned to leave. "Honestly! When Mother hears about this, she's going to come here herself to beat you senseless."

"Good old Percy," George said, shaking his head. "I honestly don't know how we're related to the bloke."

Fred said nothing as he pulled out the parchment again. "Um. George? Take a look at this."

George looked over at the paper where writing was furiously being written out.

_Well what do you think Padfoot?_

_Close enough for ministry work. Moony? Wormtail?_

_I concur!_

_As do I!_

Fred and George looked at each other in amazement as thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from across the page and words began to blossom across the top in great curly words that proclaimed:

**Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs  
** Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers  
are proud to present  
THE MARAUDER'S MAP 

"Blimey," Fred swore as the nature of the parchment was revealed. "George do you realize what this means?"

"We've just become a power to be reckoned with," George said with a grin. "And if we don't drive Filch absolutely mad by the time we've graduated, then I'll consider it a complete academic failure."

***

Harry stood at the end of the platform and waved as he watched his two sons begin their journey towards Hogwarts. James and Albus hung out the window and waved at their parents and family.

Harry especially grinned as James pulled out a piece of parchment and waved it at his father before quickly pulling himself back into his train car.

When Harry turned to leave, however, there was a grumpy-looking redhead frowning at him.

"Tell me that wasn't what I think it was," Ginny grumbled.

"What? What was what?" Hermione asked, giving Harry one of her looks.

"He gave him the map!" Ginny snapped. "After he promised he wouldn't."

"Oh, that's rich," Ron chuckled. "You're in it deep now, mate."

"It's just the map," Harry tried to explain. "Besides I-"

Harry faltered as he looked at the train riding down the track. "It's kind of like I just sent my family with them. Sirius. Lupin. My Dad."

Ginny was about to open her mouth with a snappy comeback when Ron spoke up.

"Not to mention a little bit of Fred."

The look on Ginny's face softened a tad and allowed Harry to put his arm around her waist.

"Fine. But the first letter we get from the headmaster, you have to deal with it," she said as she leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. "Poor Neville. He's never going to forgive us."

"Oh, dear lord," Hermione groaned. "They're going to blow up the school you know."

"No, they can't!" Lily piped up. "I haven't even gotten to go there yet!"

"It's highly unlikely, you know," Harry pointed out. "If anyone were to have blown up the school, it should have been us."

"Technically, we did-" Ron began

"Hush, Ron, you'll give Lily ideas," Hermione pointed out as they started to leave the platform.

"Dad? Are you coming?" Lily asked, pulling on his robes.

Harry had been staring down the track as he watched the train slowly disappear into the distance. He looked down at his daughter and gave her a grin. "Of course."

He gave one last look at the train before finally taking his daughter's hand and headed home.


End file.
